How to have a first day of class that isn't a suck-fest...

Hello Pocket Protector-type people!

I am finally back after a way-too-long holiday hiatus!  Yesterday was the first day of classes on Western's campus, and for a few of you, that fateful day of resuming academic activities is looming in the near future.  For many, this day is filled with waiting long droning wait-times in bookstore lines only to pay obscenely inflated prices for textbooks, entering classes in which you know not a single soul, encountering really intimidating profs who look like they might bite your face off if you look at them the wrong way, and countless exam and project due-dates to keep track of.

For most people, the first day of class is a complete suck-fest, and no that was not a sly reference to my blog about desperation on campus.  It sucks even more if you are Becca or any of the other ~14k students on my campus because the advent of Winter Quarter also heralds the coming of MONSOON rains and hurricane-like winds.  And they never cancel classes, ever. 

How, then can you hope to have a first day of class that will not make you want to fashion a paper shiv from all of your syllabi to stab yourself swiftly in the gut with?  This blog will address some of the common problems of the first day of classes and how to pre-empt and correct them.

You're going to want to 'full-view' this.

PROBLEM: Waiting in Line at the Bookstore
SOLUTION: Instead of waiting until the first day of classes to make a textbook purchase, reserve your books that you choose to or must buy from the bookstore in advance.  There will be a line come pick-up day, but it will absolutely move quicker than the regular retail check-out line.  Also, if you can, avoid buying books or school products from the bookstore altogether.  Rite Aid, Walmart, Target, and even regular grocery stores carry school supplies...and the people in Office Depot are lonely, sad individuals who could use some of your consumerist love. 

PROBLEM: Paying Too Much for Textbooks
SOLUTION: If you are trying to save money on textbooks, the worst thing you can do is purchase them from the bookstore.  Even if your book is a supposed "special university edition", it's literally a sick marketing ploy by the publisher to get you to buy the book at top dollar.  For example, the WWU edition of the Anatomy/Physiology book is about $200.  I bought the same thing, an identical older edition, for only $40 online.  Also, being a student, you know there are classes that make you want to burn the book in eternal hell-fire come the end of the quarter or semester.  Take advantage of this phenomena!  There are students all over your campus wanting to get rid of their textbooks that only serve as oversized coasters for their PBR.  Oh, and there are wonderful online resources as well, like Amazon, Half.com, and Dealoz.com (a comparison shopper) that can save you tons of money.  Hell, I bought my bio book for so cheap that I ended up making a $60 profit when I sold it back to the university bookstore!  Finally, if you're not taking a class relevant to your major, you can always rent books for super cheap!


PROBLEM: Not Knowing Anyone In Class/Lab
SOLUTION: If you don't know anyone in your lecture, the best thing to do is to sit somewhere consistently that is among a fairly diverse bunch of people (not a close-knit friends group).  Eventually, if you casually insert yourself into conversation or make small-talk, you will make friends.  It's a completely natural phenomenon.  DO NOT sit on the ends of rows or in the very back row like a coward: grow a pair and talk to people.  You didn't make your friends by being weird and awkward and silent in a group, and if you did, you probably should be playing WoW in your mom's basement.  If you want to avoid the situation altogether, try to register for classes with your friends.  If you are without a lab partner, get to lab early...I guarantee that all of the OCD A-students like me will be there at least 10 minutes before the doors open.  Then you have time to chat and maybe even pair up.  Guys, if you're in an anatomy lab, this is quite possibly THE WORST TIME to try the "hey do you wanna study anatomy together?" pick-up line, by the way.


PROBLEM: Intimidating Professors
SOLUTION: Just be obscenely punctual and nice to them, and they will be so confused about you not being really passive-aggressive and bitchy that they'll have no other choice than to be courteous back.  KILL THEM WITH YOUR NICENESS!  That and figure out what they're researching so you can talk to them about it in office hours; there's nothing a prof likes more than talking about the "ground-breaking work they're doing".


PROBLEM: The Endless Sea of Due-Dates
SOLUTION: Get a planner.  That's literally all the advice I have for you.  For those of you who lose things, I'd try RememberTheMilk.com as an online planner that actually will send texts to your phone and email reminders an hour before they're due.


PROBLEM: Painfully Attractive Member of Desired Sex
SOLUTION: My first advice is for the ladies.  I would say to keep your mind off his obscenely cute ass, cut arms, adorable face/eyes/nose/whatever and in your textbooks.  Quite often, especially in upper-division courses, profs jump right into material and the first day can be the most important for establishing curricular foundations for the quarter.  Guys, you've probably popped a slight-boner by this point, so I have a few choice words for you: Rosie O'Donnell naked.  You're welcome.

Hey there, sexy...

Until next time, dweebs <3